New York's veteran turf trio renews rivalry in Kingston Stakes
ELMONT, N.Y. – It may be a New York thing, but one of the coolest rivalries in racing is renewed Monday at Belmont Park when Kharafa, King Kreesa, and Lubash meet in the $125,000 Kingston Stakes for New York-breds.
That trio has combined to win 36 races, 25 stakes, and bank more than $3.3 million. In the 2013 Kingston, the order of finish was King Kreesa-Kharafa-Lubash. In 2014, it was Kharafa-Lubash, with King Kreesa not running. In 2015, it was Lubash-Kharafa-King Kreesa.
For Kharafa and Lubash, this will be their 13th meeting. Kharafa leads the series with seven wins, though Lubash beat him by a head in last year’s Mohawk. The three have run in the same race six times.
“It’s a recording,” said David Donk, the trainer of King Kreesa. “It’s just fun to be a part of it and have horses like this.”
King Kreesa finished a half-length in front of Kharafa when the two were fourth and fifth in the Elusive Quality Stakes here on April 30. The connections of both horses used it as a prep for this.
“My horse has done well, he loves Belmont, he loves the mile to mile and a sixteenth,” Donk said. “The prep serves him well.”
Donk is hopeful that the forecasted rain does come Monday to slow down what has become an extremely fast turf course.
Tim Hills, the trainer of Kharafa, said he too would like to see some rain.
“A little cut in the ground would be good for him,” Hills said.
Hills felt Kharafa was compromised a little bit last time by being inside of horses.
“He’s never been excited about going through tight holes,” Hills said. “He’s never been brave about that. But as I told my owners, he came out of that race better than he went into it.”
King Kreesa and Kharafa are both 7. Lubash is now 9, and his fifth-place finish in the Danger’s Hour Stakes at Aqueduct on April 10 was not a good return.
“His last two works were okay; I would not run him if I was not comfortable,” trainer Christophe Clement said. “He’s sound, he looks well, and he’s very willing. He always has his idiosyncrasies, but I would have liked to have run a better race.”
Among those poised to knock the old boys off their perch are Macagone, who won the Danger’s Hour by 3 1/2 lengths, and Tapitation, who has won his last two starts at Belmont Park against New York-breds and is coming out of a fourth in a tough allowance race at Gulfstream in February.
Sister act in Mount Vernon
Last October, the full sisters Invading Humor and Distorted Beauty ran 1-2 in the Ticonderoga Stakes for New York-breds for trainer Bruce Levine.
On Monday, they return off six-month layoffs in the $125,000 Mount Vernon going a mile. Invading Humor came off a similar layoff to win this race last year, while Distorted Beauty won an allowance off a similar layoff.
Invading Humor, who drew post 4, has a bit more speed than Distorted Beauty, and based on the way the turf course has been playing, Levine said, “If you got speed, it’s got to be a good commodity.”
Mah Jong Maddnes and Old Harbor, second and third in this race last year, are back in this spot. Old Harbor, a four-time winner over the Belmont course, is marooned in post 12.
Trainer David Donk entered three – Selenite, Jc’s Shooting Star, and Lady Kreesa, the latter a sister to King Kreesa.
Lady Kreesa is more of an “off-the-pace sprinter; she’s very good at that,” Donk said.
Selenite “could sit a good trip, and Johnny [Velazquez] gets along with her well,” Donk said.
Jc’s Shooting Star, who is 2 for 2 at Belmont, “needs to be covered up and make a run,” Donk said. “I don’t know if she’s good enough. If you run that race 10 times, you might get 10 different winners.”